Most in-demand Jobs in 2017: Technical Writing

(We are starting a new series that discusses the less known yet high in demand jobs for the year 2017.)


Having gained a considerable traction in the last few years, the demand for the Technical Writers is at an all time high this year. The fact that this year’s industry requirement is three times the current availability is an apt indicator of the accrued demand for an able Technical Writer.

The Why?

We are being stormed by new technologies & innovative products that are replacing the old ones every year, but at the core of all these changes, one thing that remained constant all along was the necessity to communicate them to the customers effectively. There are many accounts of some of the brilliant products failing just because the turgidity in the manual that could not come to the help of the consumer. A proper documentation is as critical as the design and development and industries have learned it the hard way. The early 2000s witnessed a huge bump in the employment opportunities for Technical Writers as most of the big players choose to outsource their documentation tasks and since then the demand has always on the positive side scoring a healthy 12% growth rate every year.

It is slightly ironic that for a job whose origin can be traced to a lack of writing skills in engineers, 70% of current Technical Writers are found to be Engineers. Yet the beauty of this job is that it is a blend of technical and creative skills making it an easy transition for the folks in either of the fields: Technical and Creative; be it for a Fulltime job or a Freelance one. The greenery of these pastures has led many of the professional in the allied professions to consider taking up the ‘Technical Writer’job.  According to Glassdoor, the full-time pay for fresher hovers around 60k $ stretching as a much as 100k $ for an ace writer with good experience. While the Freelance side is filled with veteran folks with 20-30 years experience, they reportedly earn around 100k $ making it a highly rewarding profession.

(Each of the articles about the job is followed by the “How to” guides charting the road map for aspiring professional in the field, so watch out this space for our help guide for an aspiring Technical writer)